Tuesday Morning Coffee.

Good Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Some of you may recall that, not too long ago, we welcomed this year's heavy snowfall. This is not only because it drove the anti-global warming folks into a frenzy (yes, Virginia it is possible to have snow AND climate change at the same time), but also because it made things nice and pretty-like, reminding us of the long-ago New England winters of our youth.

But, this morning, we're penning an open letter to Mother Nature and humbly asking her to stop. Though last night's wintry mix did not clutter the roads or shutter the schools, it did knock out our satellite service while we were watching Women's Curling in Vancouver. And THAT was seriously annoying.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we've become kind of obsessed with curling during this year's Games. Don't ask us why. But we cannot help but find that the repetitive sliding of a big rock down some bumpy ice, followed by a frenzy of sweeping, inspires a kind of Zen-like calm within us.

Seriously ... it takes a certain kind of focus and single-mindedness to be a Curler. And honestly, we like to think that we have something in common with the Curlers. Like them, w are politely (yet firmly) hurling big rocks at a giant targets and always making sure that we're smoothing the path as we do so.

And with that metaphor tortured to within an inch of its life, let's dive right into the rest of today's news. It starts below ...

So We All Know About ...
... President Barack Obama's famous "Yes We Can" battle cry from the 2008 presidential campaign and the famed black-and-white Web ads that followed it.
This week, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak ripped a page from the Obama playbook, putting out a Web ad of his own that we've come to refer to as "Oh No He Didn't."
Employing folks who purport to have been Obama's supporters in 2008, the new advert takes the POTUS to task for throwing his support behind Snarlen's re-election efforts because, y'know, he spent his first 1,750 years in the Senate as a Republican, voting with George Bush to destroy the Universe and to cause global war on an unprecedented scale.
Here's the video:

The White House's New Health Care Plan ...
... to have the federal government regulate health insurance rates could have profound implications for Pennsylvania, one of only two states that do not give their insurance commissioners the authority to regulate rates for small businesses.
Health insurance costs now are regulated at the state level. Pennsylvania and Hawaii are the only states that do not oversee health insurance prices charged to small businesses.
On Monday, President Barack Obama proposed handing the regulatory power over to the federal government "to provide needed oversight at the federal level and help states determine how rate review will be enforced and monitor insurance market behavior," according to the White House outline of the plan.
It's good news for Pennsylvania, said state Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario.
"You need rate protection on small groups and individuals," Ario said, "because those are the businesses that don't have leverage to protect themselves in the market."
A health care bill containing such regulatory language passed the majority-Democrat state House in early 2009 but has not been acted on by the Republican-controlled state Senate.Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, who serves on the House Insurance Committee, is one of the sponsors of the bill.
"We give [Ario] the authority to regulate car insurance rates, not health insurance rates," Shapiro said.Rep. Katharine Watson, R-Bucks, who served on a House GOP health care task force, expressed misgivings about the White House plan.Watson said she'd have to review the specifics of Obama's proposal, but in general thinks giving the government the power to oversee insurance rates ''could get a little bit scary.''

With State Rep. Jim Wansacz ...
... in the running for retiring Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow's seat, three candidates have lined up to try to replace the Lackawawanna County Democrat.According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, they are:Joe Gasdik, 74, a Republican, of Old Forge, a retired union painter.
Lee Jamison, 56, a Republican, former Newton Twp. supervisor and chairman of the Scranton-Abingtons Planning Association. Jamison is a stonemason.
Michael Kavulich, 53, a Democrat, of Taylor, best known as Sid Michaels, a former local television sports anchor and reporter. He is a communications specialist for Senate Democrats.

Meet The Underticket.
Although the fight for the 17th CD is largely seen as a steel cage match between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Holden and Republican state Sen. Dave Argall of Schuylkill County, there's some other horses in the race you may want to know about. Luckily, our pals at PA2010 were good enough to do Mouseketeer Roll Call, saving us time and effort. You can read about 'em here.

The League Of Conservation Voters ...
... put its 2009 Congressional Report Card yesterday. And only one member of the state's Senatorial delegation came away with a perfect score. C'mon down Teacher's Pet Bob Casey.
In a press release, the League said Casey, who was elected in 2006,is the longest-sitting senator to receive perfect marks from the group. Since he's only been in the Senate for four years, this sorta smacks of getting an award for being the best legless marathon runner, but that just might be us.
Pennsylvania's other U.S. Senator scored a mere 64 percent, which is better than 2008 when Arlen Specter got a lamentable 27 percent, our irrepressible Washington colleague, Colby Itkowitz, writes.
Specter's Democratic primary opponent, Joe Sestak, scored 93 percent.
Here's the scores for the rest of the Lehigh Valley-area delegation:Rep. Jim Gerlach: 43 percentRep. Patrick Murphy: 93 percentRep. Paul Kanjorski: 100 percentRep. Allyson Schwartz: 100 percentRep. Charlie Dent: 36 percentRep. Tim Holden: 86 percent

New Poll Done For Old People's Group Finds Old People Like Services For Old People.
A new poll by the statewide senior services group PANPHA finds that Pennsylvanians believe services for seniors should be a top state funding priority this budget season, ahead of transportation (54-35 percent), environmental programs (80-13 percent), the arts (80-14 percent), and, for all we know, food and breathing.
But when it comes to schools and public safety, it's onto the ice floe, Grandma.
Fifty-six percent of respondents put public education ahead of senior services, while 52 percent gave first priority to public safety and prisons.
The survey by Susquehanna Research sampled the opinions of 650 people, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.84 percentage points. Forty percent of those surveyed were between the ages of 55 and 85+.

What Goes On.
There's a pair of prepackaged press events on tap for today.
At 10 a.m., in the Main Rotunda, the PA Bar Association will launch its "Rally For An In-Depth Study of the PA Constitution."
As one wag noted, that's one awkward chant:
"What Do We Want?""A Rally For An In-Depth Study of the Pennsylvania Constitution!"
"When Do We Want It?"
"After a Bill Is Passed In Two Consecutive Sessions Of the Legislature And Then Approved By The Voters At A Statewide Referendum!"
Oy ...
And at 1 p.m., this time in the Capitol Media Center, Auditor General Jack Wagner holds a news conference on slot machine revenues and property tax cuts. Think this one'll show up as an in-kind donation on his next round of campaign finance reports?

EdWatch(TM):
Gov. Ed makes it easy for us today -- no public schedule.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning.
Anyone remember alt.songstress Julianna Hatfield? She was the kind of singer that your cool girl friends listened to. And, if you were smart, you listened as well. Here's "Spin the Bottle," from 1994.